Friday, December 18, 2015

Why I'm Supporting Ted Cruz for President... and Why You Should Too

I am one of countless Republicans exasperated with how the Washington Republican "leadership" has failed to even try to advance our basic principles, to say nothing how they continue to violate their own campaign promises. Like many others, I believe Washington is a politically incestuous den of crony government – and that's bi-partisan. We have many challenges as a country, but we will never confront most of those challenges unless we elect a President who is willing to swim against the current of corruption of Washington.

While many Presidential candidates are trying to make the case that they won't be captured by Washington, only Senator Ted Cruz has the consistent track record to prove it. Does that make him appear to not get along with the Washington leadership? Yes. Does the leadership dislike him? Yes. In the mainstream media, this conflict is portrayed as a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. The folks that don't like Senator Cruz in Washington don't like him because he's an unapologetic Constitutional Conservative that doesn't back down. I can live with that… in fact, I can get pretty excited about that!

The intensity of the Republican grassroots' anger at the GOP leadership is THE major reason that Donald Trump continues to perform well in polling. It was also part of the successful launch of Dr. Ben Carson. That anger isn't just a reaction to President Obama's destructive policies; it is a reaction to the Republican leadership's unwillingness to lead like Republicans. While I respect Donald Trump and Ben Carson, only Ted Cruz has had a consistent record (after getting elected) of challenging the Republican leadership and President Obama's disastrous policies. Lots of people talk about fighting Washington, Senator Cruz has done it.

On foreign policy, the GOP seems to have three groups: the "neocons" on one end, the "Paulites" on the other end, and then a group in the middle. Most of the GOP candidates are neocons. I used to be a neocon too… until I figured out that neocon polices don't work and cost far too much in lives and treasure. I would also note that the neocons are the most willing to "conveniently" read the constitution in ways that dramatically tip the balance between liberty and security…away from liberty. This tendency is particularly true with regard to their willingness to trample the Fourth Amendment (requiring government to get a warrant based on probable cause to search or seize your property).

I have come to believe that we cannot have a knee-jerk reaction to enter every armed conflict, but should preserve our strength and political capital to be aggressive where it matters most to American interests. Examples poor foreign policy actions include working to remove Muammar Gaddafi in Libya (in 2011) and Bashar Assad in Syria (which has not yet occurred). Although they may be loathsome human beings, our efforts to remove national leaders we don't like in the Middle East often brings much more catastrophic circumstances with regard to America's security, as we have seen in Libya where ISIS and Al Qaeda have greatly grown in strength since 2011.

Over the last 15 years, America has spent trillions of dollars that we don't have on foreign policy ventures, most of which have proven bad investments. We need a President frugal enough to actually count the monetary cost our foreign policy. Ted Cruz is in the middle group of Republicans on foreign policy issues. While it may be rousing to hear emotional, warlike rhetoric from some candidates, I believe such strategies are proven failures and I want my next President to break the cycle of foreign policy failures of the current and past Presidents.

One of the reasons the GOP establishment and big corporate interests dislike Ted Cruz is because he has fought amnesty in immigration. The threat of terrorism and the debilitating drain on our resources from unfettered immigration show clearly that we must have a President who will stand strong for American sovereignty on immigration and against the big corporate interests that control the congressional leadership of both parties.

Ted Cruz's consistent resistance to the growth of Washington power has also extended to the budget. The Fed just raised interest rates ¼ of 1%. That equates to almost $50 billion more dollars of interest payments on our national debt every year. And the Fed has signaled that it expects a full 1% increase through 2016. That means that our nearly $20 trillion national debt will squeeze out almost $200 billion of money from our national budget in 2017 just to pay interest on the debt! Wow, that's a big number!

Obama has already eviscerated our military. The increased debt payments will make it much, much harder to find the money we need to repair Obama's damage to our military. Among the top Presidential candidates, only Ted Cruz has shown the commitment to cutting the federal budget in the aggressive way necessary to attack our federal debt. That debt is one of the greatest threats to our children's future that the next President will face.

One way Ted Cruz has demonstrated his commitment to conservative principles is by the type of people he has hired in his Senate office. He believes 'personnel is policy.' Many of the people Senator Cruz hired for his Senate office came out of former Senator Jim DeMint's staff. Compare his hiring history to others in the top tier of the nomination contest and it's no contest. This is part of Cruz's consistent, conservative track record. He will bring in to his administration dedicated, patriotic conservatives to help shrink the power of government in our lives and in our economy.

And while I could go on to other reasons why Ted Cruz should be our next President, I will end with this: Ted Cruz has shown – starting long before he ever ran for the U.S. Senate – that he is committed to the first principles of this country. He is a full spectrum conservative who knows and has fought to protect our Constitution. He doesn't protect the parts of the Constitution he likes, and he doesn't protect the Constitution only when it's convenient. Ted Cruz fights for our whole Constitution - all the time. This commitment to our Constitution will be reflected in how he uses the executive power of the President and the judges he nominates.

Ted Cruz has been a consistent, full-spectrum conservative who has a strong track record of fighting for -and bleeding for - our first principles. Many candidates "talk conservative" during campaigns, but their actions don't match their campaign rhetoric. No other candidate can match Senator Ted Cruz's strong conservative track record.

America is at a tipping point. It is not enough for us to get a Republican President in 2016 – someone who will simply preside over the decline of America. We need a Republican President who will undo the damage done by President Obama and who will take on his own party leadership to finally reign in the power and reckless spending of Washington.